New Beginnings
by The Winter Sprite
Summary: There's someone new who's going to join the Guardians soon! That is if Pitch doesn't get to her first... Jack isn't all too happy when he hears the Guardian will be another Winter Sprite, but he'll soon 'warm' up to having them around...Hopefully...
1. A New Guardian!

Not long ago had the Guardians had been called to the North Pole to protect the children of the world. The famous four were more than stunned to find out that Jack Frost had been chosen by MiM. He had only begun to warm up to the idea of being a Guardian, so what he was about to find out probably wouldn't go down to well.

Sandy had returned from filling the children's dreams with sweet, golden spindles of joy and wonder weaving together, and was now making his way back to the North Pole to find the others. The Sandman hovered in through the window to the main room of North's workshop. Searching for the other Guardians, he floated by the large globe that showed the lights of the children all over the world. Sandy gazed over it, smiling faintly at the lights that scattered the orb; as he passed it a flicker of blue in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He paused for a moment, then immediately flew to the blue light that flashed on the map. A large, golden exclamation mark formed above the Guardian's head, and his amber eyes widened. He was gone in seconds, racing to find North and the others.

North was carefully putting the finishing touches on the ice sculpture that he had spent days making; a life-size Christmas tree, to scale and incredibly accurate to the last pine needle. "Easy…..Easy does it" North stared the last part of his sculpture, eyebrows furrowed together in concentration as he tapped at the last tip of the star that finished the tree. "Carefully…" Just as his chisel touched the star's point, the door swung open and a distressed Sandman came flying into the room.

"GAH!" North was thumped in the back by the Guardian, making his tools dig into the ice and with a crack, a large chunk of the sculpture fell to the ground with an audible crash. North frowned and sighed, "Sandy!" The Sandman knew he wasn't really mad; the man wasn't capable of anger in the slightest, only when his friends were in danger had he ever seen him angry. And that wasn't something you'd want to see.

He remembered the light and immediately, and a series of golden symbols and images flashed above his head as he waved his arms frantically at North. "Whoa! Calm down Sandy, what's wrong?" The Sandman simply tugged at North's sleeve in order to get him to follow, then flew out of the room, North only seconds behind. "Get the others to the Workshop. _Now_" He commanded a nearby yeti, who saluted the Guardian, then ran hurriedly to find the others.

When North caught up with The Sandman who was waving his arms desperately trying to catch the Guardian's attention, with an alarmed look grew on his face.

"Sandy, what is it?" Just as North had asked, his eyes caught sight of a bright, blue flicker coming from the globe, and he had his answer. "O Bozhe..." He paced up to and placed his hands on the control panel. "Why didn't you tell me, Sandy?" With the Sandman pouted, and a flurry of golden dust puffed out of his ears in annoyance. He knew what the light meant, it just seemed… too early…

No longer than two minutes passed when three other Guardians charged into the workshop and stopped to see what was happening. "North! We were told to come meet you here, what's wrong? Has something happened? Has something happened with Pitch? Oh my GOSH, he's back isn't he?!" Tooth went into a panic frenzy, and was firing questions so fast that Bunnymund covered her mouth with his paw to keep her quiet.

"Go ahead mate, what's wrong?" The Pooka asked North; a slight troubled look appearing on his face. North half sighed, "Not exactly" he retorted; directing their attention to the flickering light on the globe. "It seems that MiM has chosen another…" His eyes searched the room until they found Jack's own blue orbs, as the other Guardians did.

Jack's eyebrow lifted and his mouth formed a small 'o' shape, "uh, why is everyone staring at me?" He shifted, not liking the attention for once, "seriously guys stop it. I swear I didn't do anything!...You know, recently…" Jack shuffled his feet slightly, uneasy and unsure of what was happening when Sandy flew over and flashed a bunch of golden symbols above his head. Snowflakes, the globe, children, Jack with a 'X2' sign next to it; all of which were repeating over and over again too fast for the boy to make anything out of it.

"Sandy, I don't think that's helping" Tooth intervened with a small giggle. North walked over to Jack and put a hand on his shoulder, which Jack eyed suspiciously. "You see Jack, the light on this globe it means…Well, I think there are going to be two of you, in simplest of terms…" He could tell Jack was confused about the news, his face features changing so that his eyebrows had knitted together, eyes had narrowed and his mouth was slightly agape.

Bunnymund groaned, "bloody hell, there's two of 'em?!" He pinched the bridge of his nose slightly and closed his eyes. Jack just looked back at North and let out a short breath in disbelief, "um…what now?"

North's features remained the same, "the blue light means that MiM has chosen someone who he deems fit enough to be like you, hey presto! There's going to be two of you Jack. Tooth flitted over to the two to intervene.

"But North, don't you think the timing is a little strange? I mean he's only just become an official Guardian and now this? I wasn't expecting it for a few years…" The fairy gave a rather puzzled look to North, who tooth a large breath and exhaled.

"In fact, yes I do find it a bit strange, something that has been bothering me is that something must be wrong for MiM to have done this so early…You don't think Pitch is up to something do you?"

Jack tightened the grip on his staff, as if by reflex to that name. "That's impossible right? We defeated Pitch and sealed him in the Nightmare realm…" He looked down, having no trouble recalling the recent battle that had taken place between the Guardians and Pitch.

North shook his head, "yes, but you see, fear and darkness has and always will find its way back into the world, it can't be shut out forever. We don't know what he's been planning down there…But that is why we're here and as long as we stay true, we can put a stop to whatever it may be that he's conjuring up in the shadows." He looked down at Jack's blue eyes with a smile, "that was why you were chosen to be a Guardian, and it must be why there has been someone else chosen to become a Winter Spirit."

Jack nodded and then paused, "but wait, what does that have to do with me?" his head turning to the side as he heard Bunnymund give a short laugh.

Bunnymund turned to Jack, "What? You thought you'd be the only one?" The Pooka crossed his arms and leaned against a nearby pillar "I gotta say, you're pretty clueless mate" Jack's grip on his staff tightened as he glared at him, waiting for an answer. "Whoa mate, calm down. See, you're a sprite, more importantly a Winter Sprite."

"Where are you going with this?" Jack's eye narrowed at the Easter Bunny, wanting his answer.

"Well if you'd shut it and calm down, I'd tell ya!" Bunnymund barked back at the boy, the sprite had a certain attribute that made it so easy for Bunny to be annoyed by.

"Bunny shh" Tooth flitted over to Jack, "You see Jack, you get different kinds of sprites. Some control nature, others help animals, I'm a sprite to ya' know. But you, you're a Winter Sprite, a creature of the four seasons and once every sprite of the season has been alive for normally 500 years, a second one will be born."

"So I'm being…REPLACED!?" Jack's eye grew large for a moment, "Are you telling me I'm gonna _die _or something!?"

"Oh, GOD NO! Nothing like that! It just means that there will be two of you. It's happened to the sprites who control Spring, Summer and Autumn too; nobody really knows why MiMdoes it after 500 years has passed, enough time to learn enough to teach your new partner I suppose; if you could call them a partner?" "Whatever you call it, you're the last for it to happen to, so don't worry about it. As far as I know, the other seasons get along just fine with their partners."

"I…I can't believe this. It's not _fair_." Jack pouted, why should he have to share winter with someone he hasn't met yet. They could be a total douche to Jack and it wouldn't matter because he'd have to spend the rest of freaking eternity with them! "Well do you know anything about him yet?" Jack prompted.

Tooth shook her head, "sorry no, but it should happen soon by the looks of that light."

He raised an eyebrow, "O-k-ay, helpful. So I have no idea of who he is. I don't know how much of a jerk he'll be or what he looks like, when he's going to become a sprite, and not even any idea where to find him?. And to top it off I have to stop helping you guys out if Pitch _is_ up to something, _ just_ to tell him how to be a copy of me? Great, this is just greeaaat" He said with a long, drawn out sigh.

"Wellll, you do know where you can find them…They'll be in your hometown, well more specifically, the place that you changed into a sprite."

"Oh, well in that case it makes finding him soooo much easier…Anything else I should know?"

Bunnymund shifted and walked closer to Jack, "Actually yeah, two things; one, _you_ 'ave to go find them on your own, no help from any of us guardians, which brings me to the most important thing." He grinned at the boy and drew nearer to Jack, like he was going to tell him a secret.

Jack's eyebrows wove together and looked uneasily at the Easter Bunny. "What?" He asked slowly.

Bunnymund holding the same grin on his face looked at Jack's eyes, eager for the boy's reaction. "Ya see mate, seeing as unlike the rest of the Seasonal Sprites, you've been chosen to be a Guardian for…whatever reason. Which means the moment your partner becomes a sprite, they also become a guardian. Whether you like it, or not." He wished he had a camera to record Jack's face, as soon as he'd realised the news his features fell apart, wise-eyed and mouth agape. Priceless.

After a few moments Jack composed himself and cleared his throat. "Bloody. Fantastic. A few days to find him and I'm stuck with him forever." He let out a huge sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. "Guess I'd better be on my way then huh?" With a gloomy expression he dragged his feet over to the door to make his way to Burgess. He stopped and mumbled to himself, "fine, if I have to then I'm sure in no hurry to find him." And with that he left the four behind, three of them eager to meet the new addition to their team.

Tooth's eyes widened, remembering something, "oh shoot! He thought it'll be another boy. Bunny, why didn't you tell him that it's always the opposite gender?"

Bunny simply snickered at that. "Heh…he didn't ask now, did he." A grin crept up onto his face.

With a small sigh, a smile played on Tooth's face, "Bunny…"


	2. Rebirth

Darkness…just… everywhere was pitch black.

That was all that there was. That was all that I could feel. My head felt so numb and heavy; like that moment you feel when you're regaining consciousness after being knocked out.

A flash of white, and then nothing but darkness; almost like a dream.

Am I dreaming right now…?

I slowly open my eyes, heavy lids separating to reveal a strip of white scattered with dark, and tall shapes, too blurry for me to recognise right now. The numbness is beginning to fade slightly in my limbs, leaving my body as I try to turn my head. It's only then that I realise I'm lying on my side, and that there's something rushing against me. I lift my head off of my arm, my hair is wet, and clothes drenched.

I can hear running water and can feel my legs being pulled slightly, and look over to find that for whatever reason, I'm lying on the bank of a slow-running river. My eyebrows draw together, and I shake my head in effort to get out of this groggy state. As I pull myself up onto my hands and knees I notice how pale my skin looks, not that much lighter than the dirtied snow between my fingers and tangled in my hair. I look closer at my hair; hold the ends up in order to get a closer look.

It's…white…unnaturally white, especially at the tips.

Realising my feet are still submerged the running water, I try to pull myself up to stand; but quickly fall back down when a searing pain shoots up the lower half of my right leg. Letting out a small wince I shift so that my weight is no longer on my right foot. It stings as I bring it closer to my body to inspect it; and as I do so I see that there is no right shoe to accompany the boot on my left foot. I try to wiggle my toes and thankfully my foot isn't broken; probably just sprained. But how?

My breath hitched as questions began to race through my head. I had no idea of what was going on, or where I was. I tried to think back, but it was as if a wall of brick and cement had been built up at the back of my mind. Layer after layer, wall upon wall; no light could get in, and I remembered nothing. I could hear my heart picking its pace up, racing with panic, and fear setting in.

Looking up, my eyes begin to focus, and my surroundings are begging to settle. Though the area appears dark, a light does a good job of illuminating it enough to make out where I am. There are black trees surrounding the enclosed area. Getting closer together as they leave river, they wove a forest of thick trunks, and thin spindly branches reaching high into the night sky, clawing at the scenery.

And that's when I saw it…and I knew that I wasn't dreaming…

A bright glow that was fighting the darkness; that silver orb that took its rightful place in the sky. The moment my eyes locked sight with that orb, it held me. My eyes narrowed at the white glow first but then relaxed as I felt it holding me, its light filling every inch of my body; melting away the fear that had momentarily been there. My body felt lighter, being taken up slowly into the night sky; feet pulled out of the water as I was raised into the air. It was as if fear didn't exist whilst this glow emanated before me; it filled my body, even my fingertips were warmed with its caring light. As my skin, hair, and clothes were dried, I felt safer and knew I could trust it.

And then, then I heard a voice; it sounded old, wise, soothing. It reassured me, told me not to be afraid, that I was safe. The Man in the Moon… I listened to him keenly; he stated that he has chosen me to become a Spirit of Winter. He told me that I was to find the one who would help me to discover who I am; he told me not to worry or to be afraid, that as long as I stay true to who I am, and stay on the right path all will be fine.

He instructed me what to do, but with very limited information. He didn't tell me a lot of things, including my name…

I was lowered once again onto clean, untouched snow. Though this time a soft light quickly wrapped around my injured leg, glowing and emitting a slight hum as it did so. When it had disappeared, I touched my foot, there was no longer a sharp pain that scorched in my leg; only a dim ache now. I pressed my foot gently onto the ground and smiled, it still hurt a little, but I would be able to walk until it had fully healed. I scanned the ground for something to support me, a fallen branch perhaps, when my eyes stopped on something peculiar lying on the river bank; half submerged in the water.

It was an old branch; its body looked twisted, like it had been carved. The end of it seemed to be smoothened off on one end and at the other end it was splintered off, as if it had been snapped at some point. I crouched down to get closer look at it, out of any other branch that were scattered around the area, I was drawn to this one.

I stretched out my fingers to brush them against the wet oak, then recoiled them as the surface that my finger tips traced had froze over. I was still for a moment, then remembering what the moon had told me I extended my arm out again, and grabbed hold of the branch, the wood formed a patch of ice around where my hand was holding it. I smiled at it and slowly yanking upwards, it came out of the loose ground. After retrieving the branch, I noticed that the river was clear and I could easily see the small, grey rocks that rested underneath the water.

Looking down at the water, I noticed that the moon lit up the river enough for me to vaguely make out my own reflection; I really did have white hair, I wasn't seeing things. Parted to the right and loosely waved at the ends, it framed my heart-shaped face and ended just below my small shoulders. I could see that I was wearing a sleeveless hoodie over a plain, white long-sleeve top. I felt the back of my hoodie to pull up the hood; it had faded white fur that lined the inside and rim. Looking down I could see that I was also wearing a black, almost brown skirt with white, what I guess used to be tights. My fingers ran across the thin fabric of the tights; they had been ripped on both legs and the ends appeared jagged, one side ended just a little below the knee, and the other just above the ankle. I still wondered why I only had one shoe, but it didn't matter too much as the bitter ground didn't feel cold on my feet. I looked over to the water again, closer this time so that I could see my face better. I discovered that my eyes were a light blue/grey, underneath were dark circles under my eyes that made it looks as if I hadn't sleep in a while; though to the contrary I felt the very opposite, a little worried but exited. I turned my head to the side to look at my nose; a ski jump nose, it was perfectly straight except for the end where it curved up a little. I prodded the end of it, I didn't even know who I was and already I was picking out bad aspects of 'myself'. I sighed and ran my fingers down to my lips, pink but I could see a little blue in them.

Standing up again I found it easier to do so with the aid of the tree branch. It was smaller than I had previously thought, but it would work to support me all the same. Looking at the icy wood, an idea formed in my mind…I wonder…

With a slight limp I went over to a near tree and held the branch in both hands. I tapped the tree trunk with the end, trying to spread the frost, but nothing happened…

"Huh, I thought that would have worked."

I looked at my feet to see another branch on the ground. Picking it up I saw that ice did not form this time. Holding onto the original I wondered why it only worked with the one. What was so special about this branch in particular? I was gazing over it when my ears picked up a new noise; I turned my head to the direction and followed it. It sounded a little like cheering.

My hands moved branches and bushes out of the way as I followed the noise; I could definitely hear people. I saw an orange glow in the sky ahead; a town maybe? A smile formed on my face, and my pace quickened as I found my way out of the dark labyrinth. I pushed the last remaining branch out of my way and could see a town up ahead; I sighed with relief.

'The moon said that I should find someone to show me who I am, there's got to be at least one person here who will know who I am!' I rushed towards the town square and followed the noise; keeping hope that someone would know me, and if not, they would still be able to help, right?

I found a small pub and looked through the window, "so that's where it was coming from…" I could see that there were a number of men and women inside gathered around a television; I gathered that some sort of sport was on. Without a second thought I went inside, clutching onto my branch so nobody knocked me over. The smell of alcohol filled the air I searched for someone to help me. I walked over a bearded man behind the bar, he rested his head on his hand and was glancing over at a television on an orange, crumbling wall. I stepped in front of him to catch his attention.

"E-Excuse me, but…where am I?" I looked at him though it seemed he didn't hear me. I cleared my throat and tried again. No response. I was beginning to feel awkward and ignored, I waved my arms in front of the television trying to break his line of sight, but nothing. I pouted and let out a sigh. "Alright then…" I put my hands on the bar and pulled myself up to kneel there. Holding the branch in hand I grinned slightly; "try ignoring this!" I announced loudly and swung the wood as hard as I could to his back. The branch went straight through his torso and the momentum made me fall off the counter and crash to the floor. My eyes widened and I sat there, frozen. After a few moments I got back up and went over to a woman who was coming my way. "Hey, do you know what's wrong with tha-!" I took a sharp intake of breath as the woman walked straight through my body. My face fell and my body shook.

'What's going on?'

I ran back out of the building. As I got out of the door others walked straight through me; each time that they did an alarmed feeling ripped through me, like I was being plunged into ice water, not being able to breathe.

I ran as best as I could, ignoring the pain of my chest and foot until I couldn't any longer. I found my way back into another part of the forest; I couldn't remember my way, I couldn't remember anything. I fought back the tears that I could feel building up inside me; I found a small tree stump and sat down to think and recalculate for a moment. Trying to get my breathing back to normal I held my head in my hands, facing my palms.

I remained there like that for a good few hours, until I felt a faint vibration in the ground. My sense of curiosity growing stronger, I stood up and trod the snow that layered the earth. Following the strength of the pulsation with my feet I found a small mound of dirt. I could hear the pounding in my ears and was unsure if it was the ground or if it was my own heartbeat that I could feel. Then when I tapped the dirt with my free toe and the trembling stopped all together. I waited, and when no signs of anything peculiar appeared I began to turn backwards, to find my stump and think things through.

When I took a step forward, what looked to me like black fog passed by my feet, and I froze still.

"What the…" I whispered to myself and when I took another step the mound of dirt crumbled, and I fell backwards into a newly revealed hole that was hidden under the earth. Panic clung to my chest as I fell down the dark hole that didn't seem to end; my sight grew darker and darker as the surface grew further from me, the entrance to the hole now a small hole that was out of my reach.

A sudden feeling of fear washed over me as the ground swallowed me up.


End file.
